Baptist Health System moved a step closer to buying another county-owned hospital, getting the backing of the Hardin Memorial Hospital trustees for the purchase.

The hospital trustees, all of whom are members of Hardin County Fiscal Court, voted 8-1 at a joint meeting Tuesday afternoon to approve the sale of the hospital in Elizabethtown.

The deal, which is expected to close in December, calls for Baptist Health to commit $235 million over 10 years to operational and capital investments. Baptist must invest at least $150 million in the first five years to build new facilities, recruit additional doctors, upgrade Hardin Memorial IT and equipment, under terms of the transaction.

Baptist also committed to make $85 million in capital investments in Hardin Memorial and to pay the county $60 million — which will include an estimated $30 million to $35 million going to fund all liabilities associated with Hardin Memorial's pension plan — as well as $66.4 million over 25 years, according to an announcement from the Elizabethtown hospital.

Baptist Health will also assume Hardin Memorial's debt obligations of about $37 million and provide up to $150,000 per year for 25 years for health care for Hardin County Detention Center inmates, under the terms.

“This agreement assures that HMH will continue to provide the excellent healthcare that we have come to expect,” Hardin Judge-Executive Harry Berry, who is the hospital board chairman, said in a prepared statement.

“The board’s objective over the last two years has been to seek the best available affiliation to continue to provide for the needs of our communities. We found the best solution in this acquisition by Baptist Health.”

Baptist has managed Hardin Memorial for 20 years, and it intends to continue strengthening the hospital's position the 10-county service area, Baptist chief executive Gerard Colman said.

Baptist Health said it would offer employment to all Hardin Memorial non-contracted employees at their existing salaries. Dennis Johnson will remain as president of the hospital, along with other members of the current senior leadership team.

Baptist, now the largest non-profit health system in Kentucky, bought Floyd Memorial Hospital in New Albany in 2016, where it offered a similar blend of cash upfront and commitments of investments in the coming years.